I love coffee, but I’m not a big coffee drinker. On average I probably consume a cup of coffee every week or two. Why don’t I drink it more often? For a few reasons: First, I’m too jumpy/jittery/nervous to begin with and I don’t need this stuff making it worse, second, it tends to upset my stomach if I haven’t had a meal beforehand, and third, while I like regular coffee, the stuff that I really love are those insane fru-fru coffee drinks that you can only get at specialty shops for five or six bucks — which seems like a waste of money to me. … Continue reading this article “My Favorite Drug”
The Fun Never Ends Here At Garden Professors!
I have another post to toss up later today, but first I thought I’d direct your attention to the comments on a post from a few days ago — The post titled International Ag Labs – who are they and what do they do? It’s fascinating to see so many people discussing the benefits of IAL (and more fascinating to read their comments…some of which are thoughtful and some of which are….less thoughtful). The reason that there are so many of them is that IAL apparently sent out a blanket e-mail to their customers to try and get them to respond to Linda’s post. … Continue reading this article “The Fun Never Ends Here At Garden Professors!”
The No-Work Garden Book
Occasionally one of the GPs will blog about a book that’s particulary good – or not. I was given a copy of Ruth Stout’s No-Work Garden Book a few years ago and frankly hadn’t given much more than a passing glance. But last week I thumbed through it and was immediately struck by the quality of science this self-taught gardener brought to her writing.
Much of Ruth’s gardening practices included the use of organic mulch on vegetable gardens, and she regularly wrote to scientists to ask for their interpretation of “expert” advice. … Continue reading this article “The No-Work Garden Book”
Packing Pearls
Yes, not my day to post, but I just received an email with a link to a new product called Packing Pearls. These are polystyrene balls that fill the bottom of large containers so they aren’t so heavy. They are promoted as “improving water drainage and oxygen flow.” You can find a link here
The “pearls” are separated from the soil and plant roots with a pot liner (composition unknown). We’re told that the roots can’t grow through the pot liner. … Continue reading this article “Packing Pearls”
A Public Service Announcement (of sorts)
File this under “short-sighted acts of government”. What, that cabinet is full to overflowing?
In the wild world of U.S. Land Grant Universities, faculty appointments can consist of varying ratios of “the three missions”: Teaching, Research, and Outreach. The Cooperative Extension Service is the formalized version of outreach. Three of us Garden Professors (Linda, Jeff, and Bert) have Extension appointments. I personally do so much outreach with both gardeners and industry that everyone thinks I’m in Extension, so I’ll consider it an honorary appointment.… Continue reading this article “A Public Service Announcement (of sorts)”
Friday turf troubles
To no one’s great surprise by now, the white substance in Friday’s photo is mesh:
Like so many “instant” lawns that never really establish, the original grasses in this sod have died, leaving only weeds, debris, and the netting used as a matrix to support bunchgrass production.
(I have a personal grudge against sod netting, having removed the tenacious remains of black plastic netting when we replaced our lawn with alternative groundcoverings. Like Velvetta and Twinkies, this stuff never dies.)
Friday quiz
A few years ago when I was in Lisle, Illinois I took this photo of turf:
Can you see the filmy white substance within the turf? What is it?
Answer and another photo on Monday – have a great weekend!
Peanuts
I’m not from the South, and so I can’t call myself a Southerner like Holly can, but I did spend 6 years in Georgia. There are lots of things about it which I miss: winters which are more like a Minnesota fall, the almost disgustingly friendly people (OK, there was that one time that I was chased by a guy with an SKS assault rifle — but that was an exception — generally Southerners are the nicest people you could ever want to meet), and, especially, the food. … Continue reading this article “Peanuts”
International Ag Labs – who are they and what do they do?
Last week I posted a short message about this company, asking you to do a little homework. Bryn, CP, and Karen all have teased out some details that agree with my skepticism on how reliable this company is for soil testing and analysis. (See last Wednesday’s post and comments if you haven’t read them already.)
To back up a little bit, I received an email from LB last week, along with the attached soil test, analysis and recommendations. … Continue reading this article “International Ag Labs – who are they and what do they do?”
Friday puzzle solved…finally
We’re back to civilization, so I can finally post the answer to the puzzle. I’ve been without cell service and our only computer access was dial-up at a glacial 37.2 kbps. Yes, kbps.
Back to our puzzle. Here’s a larger version of Friday’s photo:
It is bark, as many astute readers pointed out. As far as I know, it’s a London plane tree (Platanus), but given the promiscuity of the genus, who knows exactly what species or hybrid it is?… Continue reading this article “Friday puzzle solved…finally”